The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, on Friday said N2 billion has so far been released to each state government from the N5 billion earmarked for palliative in light of the removal of fuel subsidy.

Edun stated this during a briefing in Abuja attended by key government officials including the Minister of Budget, Mr Abubakar Bagudu; and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari.

Also in attendance were the Director General of the Budget Office, Mrs Patience Oniha; the Senior Assistant to the President on Tax Reforms, Mr Zacch Adedeji; and the Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.

Speaking about Nigeria's budget, the minister restated the position of President Bola Tinubu that the nation could not continue to service its debts with over 90 percent of its revenue, stressing that the partial release of the pallative fund is to curb inflation.

On  his part, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, noted that the consumption of Petrol Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, had dropped from 66.6 million litres to 46 million litres daily, revealing that production increased to 1.6 million barrels per day.